Turkey is no longer stopping refugees on the way to the EU - a father of the Turkey deal is now urgently warning. Gerald Knaus calls for an agreement with Erdogan, even if billions of dollars are required.
- Turkey has opened its borders to refugees on the way to the EU.
- The situation has worsened drastically since then, especially in Greece.
- One of the fathers of the Turkey deal, Gerald Knaus, warns of devastating consequences - and advocates an agreement with Erdogan worth billions.
Ankara / Berlin - In view of the Turkish border opening for refugees, migration researcher Gerald Knaus has called for a new EU refugee agreement with Ankara. Knaus told the newspaper Welt that the EU must conclude a second agreement with Turkey and pay the government in Ankara six billion euros to avert a new refugee crisis .
"I am sure that this will also be the demand of the Turks," said Knaus, who is the architect of the EU-Turkey refugee agreement of 2016. It had to be ensured that the Syrian refugees in Turkey lived relatively well and did not make their way to Europe.
Turkey deal canceled? Knaus warns: "Germany would be the biggest loser"
"Germany would be the biggest loser if we couldn't find an agreement," warned Knaus. In the past few days, several politicians had demanded that Germany "not be blackmailed" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
From the perspective of the migration researcher, however, time is of the essence. The agreement with Ankara had to be "best in the coming days". If the Greek authorities brought tens of thousands of people from the islands to the mainland, but there was no agreement with Turkey, this would "lead to an enormous pull effect". Then more people could make their way to Europe - and again more people would drown on the dangerous crossing , Knaus warned.
Turkey: Migration expert makes serious accusations against Greece - and the EU
The researcher made serious accusations against the Greek government. Their decision not to accept asylum applications for a month violates "international conventions, EU treaties and national law". It was a "very worrying precedent," said Knaus. "Really worrying" is that this is apparently accepted by the EU.
Due to the escalation of the military conflict in northern Syria , Turkey has not stopped refugees from entering the EU from its territory since the weekend. Greek security forces have since prevented thousands of migrants from crossing the border. Athens declared the highest alert level and declared that it would no longer accept asylum applications. A focal point is the island of Lesbos - the refugee camps have been overcrowded for a long time.
Turkey: borders open - Frontex plans to increase the Leyen
In view of the crisis, EU leaders visited the Greek-Turkish border area on Tuesday. Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen promised the government in Athens EU aid of 700 million euros and an increase in the use of the EU border protection agency Frontex.
Knaus already warned of a new crisis in February, "worse than 2015". In an interview with Munich's Merkur * in summer 2019, the researcher made a clear demand to Chancellor Angela Merkel.
AFP / fn
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Panagiotis Balaskas
